The attending three out of six members of the Delaware Senate’s Energy and Transit Committee.

The ground rules were you had to be polite, you had five minutes, and you had to tell the committee what electric company you used at Thursday night’s Energy and Transit Committee hearing about the wind farm project that would sit 11.5 miles off of Rehoboth Beach’s shore. The Senate Chamber was standing room only, and three out of six of the committee members were in attendance. Some of the members of the General Assembly who showed up to listen to the proceedings were Representatives Gerald Hocker and John Kowalko, and Senator George Bunting.

Delmarva Power & Light President Gary Stockbridge was on hand for the Senate hearings and was glad that the public was getting a chance to comment. He’s also gotta be a little mad that a state government passed a law in 2006 telling his company who to buy power from, but state governments pass laws regulating business a lot.

(If you click on someone’s name, you’ll get their statement to the committee, or in the case of candidates or energy company representatives, the statement given to me outside of the hearings).

Governor Russ Peterson

This was the only night of hearings where the public could speak, and former Governor Russ Peterson was the first at the podium. He voiced his support for the project.

“Little states aren’t limited to doing little jobs, little states can do big jobs, too. That’s what our forefathers did when they made little Delaware the First State.” - former Governor Russ Peterson

Chad Tolman from the Sierra Club, Alan Muller from Green Delaware, bloggers Tom Noyes from Tommywonk and Nancy Willing from The Delaware Way, Lt. Governor John Carney, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Protack, Dave Walsh from the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council which represents 22 trade unions, and Pat Gearity, a local lawyer, were among the many people who turned out to support the offshore wind farm project.

Lt. Governor John Carney was there to show support for the project. Earlier this month Carney helped negotiate a deal where Bluewater Wind would establish a hub in Delaware that would result in jobs for the state.

Among those voicing opposition to the project were Ed Ratledge from the University of Delaware, Bernadette Winston, a Wilmington Community Center Director, a representative from the Local 1238, which includes DP & L union workers, Charles Boncelet from the University of Delaware, and private citizen Tim Bond, who cited the “lack of fairness” in a process that, among other things, wouldn’t reopen bidding so Conectiv could bid a wind farm project, too.

Charles Boncelet from the University of Delaware was there to speak out against the project.

An out of state speaker, Barbara Hill, made a compelling statement in favor of offshore wind power. The organization that she represents, Clean Power Now, is the group fighting Senator Ted Kennedy in an attempt to make Cape Cod the site of the nation’s first offshore wind farm. Hill said that she would love the competition from Delaware to see who would be first in offshore wind.

One of the interesting things I learned during the hearings was that a nuclear power plant in the north east had to shut down during the drought this past summer because they didn’t have coolant water. I never knew that could happen. And probably my favorite moment was when Sussex Countian Hal Alpiar explained to the Committee how he had to regularly wipe the soot from around his home that sits “two miles as the crow flies,” from the Indian River Power Plant, a story I’ve heard a million times from county residents.

Some of the rhetorical questions brought up by speakers to the Committee were why the Senate needed to hold hearings when the PSC held extensive hearings over the same topic just last year, why there wasn’t more competition in the process, and why the Senate would stop a process that it mandated less than two years ago.

This body passed a law, this body implemented a law, and I call on this body to follow the law.” -Pat Gearity

After the hearing, I spoke with Jim Lanard from Bluewater Wind and he was very upbeat about the future of the wind farm project and was “moved” by all of the public support.

The next hearing will be Wednesday, February 13th at Legislative Hall, and speakers will include the Public Service Commission and the Public Advocate. If you’d like to tell the Energy and Transit Committee what you think, you can click HERE for a list of the members and how to reach them.

I’m sure we can totally trust companies to go by the honor system when it comes to reporting violations, after all, they always jump to comply with clean air regulations the state passes. (COUGH COUGH)

This is so…typical…for our ridiculously dysfunctional state:

In Delaware, home of some of the biggest air polluters in the country, the state’s air quality management program remains underfunded and understaffed, leaving the reporting of violations up to the companies doing the polluting.

Now, think about it, as citizens, our speed driving down Delaware’s roads is monitored (probably about 2 million times) more than the harmful toxins like mercury spewing from “some of the biggest air polluters in the country.”

Where does Senator Charles Copeland stand when it comes to the proposed wind farm that would sit off the coast of Rehoboth Beach? He’s been rumored to be one of the small cabal of legislators who have worked to scuttle the project, but I spoke with him yesterday and he was supportive of it, “I think that I’d like to see the wind farm go forward.”

Copeland, who touts a house equipped with solar panels, does have concerns about the wind farm project. We talked about the $6 a month cost for Delmarva Power customers being an average over 25 years, but he would like to know what the first year will look like, will it be another large rate spike for Delmarva Power customers? (I will work on getting the answer to this from Bluewater Wind). Other concerns are that it would be built 11.5 miles offshore and in Federal waters, and that only a small portion of Delaware energy users would pay for it:

“The entire state of Delaware…should all participate in the expense of building the wind farm since we’re all going to benefit from it.” AUDIO

I’ve talked to other legislators who don’t agree with spreading the cost to all Delaware energy users particularly the Delaware Electric Coop customers, since they didn’t experience the same rate spikes as Delmarva Power customers and because the Coop is non-profit. Copeland’s response to excluding the Coop customers was a quick, “Why not them?”

I asked the Senator if he felt the project satisfied the requirements of House Bill 6, and he pointed out that he was one of the few legislators that didn’t support the Bill. According to Copeland, “The pain of de-regulation had just been experienced,” and he didn’t like the way the Bill allowed the Public Service Commission to, “restrict retail competition.” He also points out that the project, sitting in Federal waters, isn’t “Delaware based.” Basically, Copeland feels that there are glitches that need to be fixed so the project can move forward. AUDIO

So why did the Public Service Commission approve a wind farm in Federal waters if it would be a problem? Copeland had no idea, but he was concerned that if the wind farm project was held up with legal actions, it could hurt our pursuit of other renewable energy sources. He also talked about how the wind project would, “cover the whole nut,” when it came to the State’s legal obligation to move towards renewables. AUDIO

What does Copeland see as the solution? How does the project move forward, and he brought up hearings that Senator Harris McDowell would be conducting where Delmarva Power and Bluewater Wind would present options, but, according to Copeland, “at the end of the day,” spreading the cost across more Delawareans and getting some Federal backing would be the key. AUDIO

Despite his concerns, Senator Copeland’s overall outlook on the wind farm project was positive, “I think it will be built.”

UPDATE: OK, I saw Senator Copeland again today, and he was happy to clarify his part in Russ Larson’s vote to table the wind farm project, (I ask him several different ways to make sure we’ve got clarity): 

“What I laid out were my issues, what Russ chose to do with those was ultimately his call. ” 

Then I asked the Senator if he would have advised Russ Larson to vote for the proposal:

“Not the way it was laid out because I don’t believe that 28% of Delaware households ought to be footing the bill for the largest capital project in the State of Delaware’s history….”   AUDIO  

 

Hang on to your hats, but Delmarva Power and Light is going to pass the costs of fighting the proposed wind farm onto it’s rate payers:

Delaware’s stalled effort to find home-grown sources of electricity will cost Delmarva Power ratepayers about $4.6 million.

Delmarva insists its $3.7 million share was money well-spent. Others contend it was spent in a way to discredit offshore wind power.

Delmarva spent the money on consultants and legal fees to address a legislative mandate to seek new in-state power sources, Delmarva spokesman Bill Yingling said. He offered no breakdown, and noted that the total is a preliminary estimate.

The costs do not include time spent by Delmarva staff on the issue or the costs of polling the public, Yingling said.

So they’ve hit their customers with a 59% increase, they’re fighting a clean source of energy for the state that would bring in a significant number of new jobs, and now they’re pouring salt on the wound by forcing their customers to pay for their attempt to kill a project that their customers, according to their own study, overwhelmingly support:

After exposure to a brief conceptual description of wind power, which communicated an increased cost (not specified) and long term commitment (also not specified), favorability experienced a statistically significant decrease (87% pre-concept versus 79% post-concept); however, remained high being somewhat or very favorable among three-fourths of customers. Read the survey they commissioned HERE.

Seventy-nine percent of their customers support the wind farm even after they explain it. Yeah, they’re really fighting for their customers.

(Thanks to Tommywonk, as usual, for bringing this to my attention and giving me a wicked case of heart burn).

The background:

On April 6, 2006, House Bill 6 did something amazing, it passed the Delaware State House (34 - 4), and the Senate (15 - 4), and it was signed into law by the Governor, all on that day. The Bill was the General ASSembly’s reaction to a harsh rate spike for Delmarva Power and Light customers, and it started the process for Delaware’s first “cost-effective” utility:

To stabilize long-term pricing in the DP&L service territory, the Act provides for a request for proposals through a competitive process to build cost-effective merchant generation in the State, to be utilized to serve some of the load requirements of DP&L.

When the process was complete, the primary spot was filled by the country’s first off shore wind project, submitted by Bluewater Wind, with a back-up gas plant that would be built by either NRG Energy, (The company that bought the embattled Indian River Power Plant, Delaware’s worst polluter, from Delmarva Power and Light) or Conectiv, (Sister company to Delmarva Power and Light).

(Holy incest, Batman, could that be the reason why Delmarva Power and Light is fighting the wind project…it’s not being built by someone they’re in bed with? Hmmmm…and could that be why DP & L’s President, Gary Stockbridge, wanted to reopen the bidding process after Bluewater was chosen so other companies, like maybe Conectiv, could simply swipe Bluewater’s idea and propose their own wind farm?)

Delmarva Power and Light resisted negotiating, and at one point, the Delaware Public Service Commission deemed the project “not in the public interest” because of pricing issues. But on December 14th, after months of negotiations and Bluewater Wind cutting their price by digging into their profits, the Public Service Commission gave the project a thumbs up:

“Bluewater’s project is a cost-effective mechanism that takes control of Delaware’s energy needs and provides a price hedge against the unpredictable and volatile movement of the PJM market,” the staff wrote in the report.

But despite the PSC’s recommendation, on December 18th our General ASSembly, represented by Russ Larson, tabled the project, citing questions about which Delaware energy customers would pay for the project. HB 6 applied the cost to DP & L’s residential and small business customers, and the PSC could have, without the intervention of the legislature, spread those costs to Delmarva’s large business customers, too, significantly reducing the price.

The wrench in the works was thrown in by a handful of legislators, unknown until just this week, who questioned spreading the cost to all Delaware energy users, including Delaware Electric Cooperative customers. (Is this where I’m supposed to act stupid and think that this group of legislators were oblivious to this entire issue until the day before the final decision was going to be made? It was part of HB 6. Good grief).

So basically the Delaware General ASSembly, the body that passed HB 6 in one day because it was so important, is stalling the process over an issue that’s clearly spelled out in their own legislation, causing Delawareans who have followed the process to roll their eyes so much that the friction is causing the current warm spell.

The interview with Pete Schwartzkopf:

To gain some kind of insight into what happened, last week I spoke with Representative Pete Schwartzkopf, whose 14th District would be the most impacted by the project. Schwartzkopf supports the project, citing, among other things price stability:

“They can tell you on day one and they can tell you on day 3005 what you’re going to pay for power.”

And the creation of new jobs:

“A lot of jobs would be made, these are things that the leaders of our state should be looking at…” FULL AUDIO

With the proposed wind farm sitting 11.5 miles off the coast of Rehoboth Beach, I wondered what kind of feedback Representative Schwartzkopf was getting from his District:

“I only had one person contact me or give me any negative feedback on the wind farm location. They want the wind, they just didn’t want it off Rehoboth.” FULL AUDIO

A question I often hear from people when discussing the project is why are only DP & L residential and small business customers affected by it? Well, according to Representative Schwartzkopf, it’s partly because Delmarva’s customers were “thoroughly impacted with deregulation” and had to eat a 59% increase. AUDIO There’s also the obvious difference that DP & L is a for profit company while the Delaware Electric Cooperative, Delaware’s other main energy supplier, is non-profit and customer run, and as a non-profit, isn’t under the jurisdiction of the PSC.

Schwartzkopf sent an e-mail to the leadership expressing his disappointment at the project being tabled last month, and asking that they convene a meeting with the independent consultant:

I ask that you join me in requesting the House and Senate leadership to convene a meeting either jointly or separate and allow the independent consultant, not Bluewater Wind or Delmarva or the PSC, to address the many questions that we have followed by an explanation as to what happened leading up to the vote on 12/18/07. If Russ is voting on our behalf, then we need to be fully informed so that we can express our will on our leadership to represent us fairly.

Interestingly, Schwartzkopf told me that no one from the leadership ever asked him if he supported the project or not. The General ASSembly never had a vote on whether or not to table the project on December 18th.

Another issue we discussed was the cost of the project. Contrary to rumor, an extra charge on your bill for wind energy isn’t a given. According to Schwartzkopf, the numbers that we’re hearing attached to the monthly increases are based on, “Today’s prices for coal, and the worst case scenario for wind.” AUDIO

Until I spoke with the Representative, one of my main concerns was that the State would have to absorb the price of the project if it wasn’t completed. That’s not the case. Delawareans aren’t paying for the construction of the wind farm, and if, for any reason, the project is stopped before it’s completed, we won’t pay anything.

“This (the wind farm) is a win, win, win, win all the way around.” AUDIO

Finally, the 14th’s Representative has a message for supporters of the project, “Don’t give up.” AUDIO

We’ll keep you up to date on this issue as it unfolds…AGAIN.

Every December media outlets recap their favorite and/or biggest stories for the year. In that same tradition, I’ve decided to put up some of my favorite blog pictures of the year and 10 posts I’ve made that I feel changed the course of world history and, of course, saved all of humanity.

My Favorite Pictures of 2007

A beautiful day at Tower Road.

A Civil War Reenactment during Milton’s 200th Anniversary.

Governor Ruth Ann Minner running away from me and out of the Georgia House in Millsboro the night of the 41st District special election.

Even after his resignation from the State House for ethics issues, John Atkins’ supporters launched a failed write in campaign to send him back to Dover. His campaign signs cropped up all over the 41st.

The table where Laura Bush ate breakfast at the Royal Treat on Wilmington Avenue in Rehoboth Beach.

The Cohen brothers, they found the ill fated Rissos dolphin washed up at Tower Road.

The Rissos dolphin dying on the beach at Tower Road.

The SINKING South Side approach of the “new” Indian River Inlet bridge and the road it tried to pull down with it.

John Andretti, I met him. How cool.

The “Dic Dang” sandwich at the Corner Market Bistro in Milton.

Lighting the balloons up like lanterns during Milton’s 200th Anniversary celebration.

Joe Biden talking about Iraq at Browseabout Books on Rehoboth Avenue.

Jared Morris and Dan Gaffney having fun at the Best of Delaware celebration in Dover. (And yes, Dan always has that light shining above him, it’s the most amazing thing…).

The French invade Rehoboth Beach.

Disheveled Barbies from Washington DC spotted loitering on Columbia Avenue after their Dream House furniture was recalled.

Dr Wray and Stell Parker Selby changing seats at the Cape Henlopen School Board meeting in December after Wray resigned the Presidency.

My Favorite Posts of 2007

# Ten: Your Sussex County Council

# Neuf: The French visit Rehoboth

# Eight: The Atkins Scandal

# Seven: The Indian River Inlet Bridge

# Six: Biden at Browseabout Books

# Five: European Football

# Four: Laura Bush visits Rehoboth Beach

# Three: My interview with John Andretti

# Two: Toy Recalls

# One: The Global Warming

The suspense is killing me, are we going to have the first off shore wind farm in Delaware or not?

The Proposed Purchase Power Agreement between DP&L and BWW is out, and here’s part of the Staff Summary:

Proposed project consists of 150 wind turbines with a total nameplate capacity of 450 MWs with an anticipated full Commercial Operation Date of between June 30, 2014 but no later than November 30, 2016 with a term of 25 years from Commercial Operation Date.

The wind farm would be located approximately 11.5 miles east of Rehoboth Beach making landfall near or at Bethany Beach. The main interconnection point with the electric grid will be at the Indian River Interconnection Point.

DP&L has an obligation to purchase up to 300 MWs of energy in any given hour with a maximum cap of 1,357,402 MWhs annually.

Each MWh of energy will include the associated environmental attribute (e.g. Renewable Energy Credits).

The pricing below for the project products will be escalated at 2.5% per year after 2007:
o Base Capacity Payment Rate = $70.23 per kW-year
o Base Energy Rate = $98.93 per MWh
o Base Renewable Energy Credits Rate = $19.75 per REC

Here’s the bottom line from the News Journal:

The proposed contract pegs the price of wind power at 9.893 cents per kilowatt hour. That’s down from 10.59 cents per kilowatt hour in the contract Bluewater submitted in September.

But Delmarva Power, apparently, is still not on board:

Bluewater Wind has reduced its proposed selling price of wind power by about 7 percent, but Delmarva Power is still refusing to agree to a 25-year power purchase agreement.

You can read the whole alleged “Agreement” HERE.

As the wind power saga continues, we’ll keep you posted….

UPDATE: Read what Delaware blogger Tom Noyes of “Tommywonk” has to say about it HERE and HERE.

A recent, 23 year government study around nuclear power plants showed higher than normal cancer rates:

Children under five years old living near nuclear power stations have contracted cancer at a greatly higher rate than the national average, a study by the German government said Saturday.

The risk of cancer increased by 60 percent for children living less than five kilometres (three miles) from a nuclear power plant, according to the study by the federal office for protection against radiation. The risk was 117 percent higher when only leukemia was taken into account.

The study looked at statistics from between 1980 and 2003 in regions near 21 reactors or former reactors.

The German Environment Minister is saying it can’t be “explained by exposure to radiation:”

“To explain this increased cancer risk, the population would have to be exposed to radiation at least 1,000 times higher than what comes from German nuclear power plants,” he said.

With cancer rates that much higher than the norm among young children, an explanation is certainly needed.

Heather Mills wants you to think that cows are worse than “charity campaigners” in SUVs.

Heather Mills showed up at an “ecological event” in London last Sunday in a “gas guzzling” Mercedes SUV to tell a crowd that eating meat is killing the planet with greenhouse gases. She wondered why we don’t drink “rat’s milk:”

“There are many other kinds of milk available. Why don’t we try drinking rats’ milk and dogs’ milk?”

Mills, who became a vegan when she married Paul McCartney in 2002, allegedly turned down a $50 million dollar divorce settlement from the former Beatle because she wanted $100 million. After the London event, she went to Dublin, Ireland where her hypocrisy took an unexpected turn as she berated wealthy people:

“Because people are very snobby - these people who have lots of money, they’re either snobby or they’re stingy.

“If you have lots of money you have to be stingy because why would you want that amount of money.”

Yes, Heather, “why,” indeed. She went on to explain that basically she needs money because that’s what it takes to hang around rich people all day long “to actually make a change.” Mills apparently suffers greatly at cocktail parties to save the planet, and yet, she feels she’s being mistreated by the media:

“I don’t think anything can prepare you for being treated worse than a murderer or a paedophile when all you have done in 17 years is charity work,” she said.

(17 years? Would it be wrong to mention that if you go back 18 years Mills was shooting a German porn book? Ouch.)

And why does Mills think she’s getting a raw deal from the media?

She suggested at different stages that she is being attacked because she is a woman and also because she is campaigning for real change in the world.

“I’m a woman who puts fear into men who want to control women,” she said.

“If you look at every single person in the history of the world who has tried to make a difference, you’ll find a very long section of their lives where they were treated horrifically by the government or by the media.”

Heather…are you being “treated horrifically” by the media because you’re a woman trying to exact change, or could it just possibly be because you’re a hypocrite and a total flake?

Let’s face it, the friction created by Linda McCartney spinning in her grave right now is probably contributing more to global warming than all of the earth’s livestock and transportation combined.

(I guess this post means I’m “banned” by Heather Mills now, bummer.)

No, your turkey doesn’t cost more because it hangs out with President Bush and his buddies.

This year your Thanksgiving turkey is going to cost more than last year because we’re turning to alternative fuels:

Turns out your Thanksgiving dinner is going to cost about $5 more this year. One big reason? Ethanol. Here’s why. The most expensive part of the dinner is the turkey (though some grocers give it away if you overload on everything else). And 60% of the cost of the turkey is the feed. Most of the feed is corn, and corn prices are through the roof because corn is being diverted to the hot item of the moment: ethanol.

California’s poultry industry alone has seen a “$100 million dollar” increase in the cost of corn feed. So is there a bright side? Well, no, not if the “side” you’re talking about is creamed corn or cornbread stuffing….